Ki Teitzei

The parashah sets out a series of miscellaneous laws, mostly governing civil and domestic life, including ordinances regarding a beautiful captive of war, inheritance among the sons of two wives, a wayward son, the corpse of an executed person, found property, coming upon another in distress, rooftop safety, prohibited mixtures, sexual offenses, membership in the congregation, camp hygiene, runaway slaves, prostitution, usury, vows, gleaning, kidnapping, repossession, prompt payment of wages, vicarious liability, flogging, treatment of domestic animals, yibbum (יִבּוּם‎ "levirate marriage"), weights and measures, and wiping out the memory of Amalek.

[42] In the continuation of the reading, Moses taught that in God's service congregation - levites - could not admit into membership anyone whose testes were crushed or whose member was cut off.

[75] In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that when Israelites reaped the harvest in their fields and overlooked a sheaf, they were not to turn back to get it, but were to leave it to the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow.

[75] In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that when Israelites beat down the fruit of their olive trees or gathered the grapes of their vineyards, they were not to go over them again, but were leave what remained for the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow, remembering that they were slaves in Egypt.

[86] In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if two men fought with each other, and to save her husband the wife of one seized the other man's genitals, then her hand was to be cut off.

[89] In the maftir (מפטיר‎) reading of Deuteronomy 25:17–19 that concludes the parashah,[90] Moses enjoined the Israelites to remember what the Amalekites did to them on their journey, after they left Egypt, surprising them and cutting down all the stragglers at their rear.

[95] The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:[96] Benjamin Sommer argued that Deuteronomy 12–26 borrowed whole sections from the earlier text of Exodus 21–23.

The instruction in Exodus 23:5 that parallels Deuteronomy 22:4 states that the duty to restore a fallen donkey or ox applies to one's enemy's animals as well as to one's brother's.

In the current parashah, Moses warned the Israelites in the case of skin disease (צָּרַעַת‎, tzara'at) diligently to observe all that the priests would teach them, remembering what God did to Miriam (Deuteronomy 24:8–9).

In 2 Kings 7:3–20, part of the haftarah for parashah Metzora, the story is told of four "leprous men" (מְצֹרָעִים‎, m'tzora'im) at the gate during the Arameans' siege of Samaria.

Lawrence Schiffman read this regulation as an attempt to avoid violating prohibitions on charging interest to one's fellow Jew in Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36–37; and Deuteronomy 23:19–20.

[106] The parashah is discussed in these rabbinic sources from the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud:[107] The Gemara taught that Deuteronomy 21:10–14 provided the law of taking a beautiful captive only as an allowance for human passions.

[108] A baraita taught that the words of Deuteronomy 21:10, "And you carry them away captive," were meant to include Canaanites who lived outside the land of Israel, teaching that if they repented, they would be accepted.

[118] Chapter 8 of tractate Sanhedrin in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the wayward and rebellious son (בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה‎, ben sorer umoreh; see the Hebrew article regarding the terminology) in Deuteronomy 21:18–21.

[122] The Mishnah interpreted the words of Deuteronomy 21:20 to exclude from designation as a "stubborn and rebellious son" a boy who had a parent with any of a number of physical characteristics.

[136] Chapter 12 of tractate Chullin in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of sending the mother bird away from the nest (שילוח הקן‎, shiluach hakein) in Deuteronomy 22:6–7.

The term "ordinances" (מִשְׁפָּטִים‎, mishpatim), taught the Sifra, refers to rules that even had they not been written in the Torah, it would have been entirely logical to write them, like laws pertaining to theft, sexual immorality, idolatry, blasphemy and murder.

[145] The Mishnah taught that the fines for rape, seduction, the husband who falsely accused his bride of not having been a virgin (as in Deuteronomy 22:19), and any judicial court matter are not canceled by the Sabbatical year.

But Rabbi Joshua asked whether the Ammonites or Moabites were still in their own territory, as Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had long before conquered and mingled all the nations, as Isaiah 10:1 reports.

[155] The Mishnah taught that a red cow born by a caesarean section, the hire of a harlot, or the price of a dog was invalid for the purposes of Numbers 19.

[156] In part by reference to Deuteronomy 23:19, the Gemara interpreted the words in Leviticus 6:2, "This is the law of the burnt offering: It is that which goes up on its firewood upon the altar all night into the morning."

The Gemara cited a baraita that interpreted the words "the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them" in Leviticus 26:39 to teach that God punishes children only when they follow their parents' sins.

[176] Tractate Peah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of the harvest of the corner of the field and gleanings to be given to the poor in Leviticus 19:9–10 and 23:22, and Deuteronomy 24:19–22.

The Gemara used this analysis of Exodus 21:4 to explain why Mishnah Yevamot 2:5[186] taught that the son of a Canaanite slave mother does not impose the obligation of Levirite marriage (יִבּוּם‎, yibbum) under Deuteronomy 25:5–6.

'"[193] The parashah is discussed in these medieval Jewish sources:[194] Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that the commandment of Deuteronomy 22:1–3 to return lost property appears in the Torah portion that begins in Deuteronomy 21:10, "When you go forth to battle" ( כִּי-תֵצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה‎, ki tetze la-milchamah), to teach that the duty to return lost property applies even in a time of war.

Bahya also found in Deuteronomy 22:1–3 encouragement regarding the resurrection, reading that God will practice this commandment personally by restoring the souls of the departed bodies to their original owners after the arrival of the Messiah.

[214] Donniel Hartman argued that Deuteronomy 22:1–3 contains one of Judaism's central answers to the question of what is just and right, what he called "the religious ethic of nonindifference.

"[215] Writing for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of Conservative Judaism, Elliot N. Dorff and Aaron L. Mackler relied on Deuteronomy 22:2, among other verses, to find a duty to help see that our society provides health care to those who need it.

[216] Joseph Telushkin noted that the Torah three times promises long life for obeying commandments—Exodus 20:11 and Deuteronomy 22:6–7 and 25:15—and all three involve issues of ethics and kindness.

[217] William Dever noted that most of the 100 linen and wool fragments, likely textiles used for cultic purposes, that archeologists found at Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai Desert (where the climate may better preserve organic materials) adhered to the regulations in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11.